The rose & the shadow II: Until death do us part
by kindbloodedArlanna
Summary: The epic continues...
1. Scorpions

It was midday. The two hedgehogs, the young rabbit, Chao, and kitsune had come back to the kingdom.

"This was a bad idea, Amelia," said Shadow.

"But I have to know!" Amelia insisted, "Who are these people, and what do they want? Not to mention that they killed the king and queen!"

"Oh dear!" said Cream.

"And Sonic as well." Shadow added.

"What!" said Miles, "Okay that's it, they're gonna get it!"

"Nothing too hasty, now," Shadow smirked.

"Fine," Miles huffed.

"Come on, let's go!" said Amelia.

"Fine," said Shadow, "as long as we stay hidden. You know they're after you next."

"Trust me, I know." said Amelia.

When they made it back to the kingdom, they saw a large crowd gathered at the castle.

"What is this?" said Cream.

"We're going to find out," said Amelia.

They stood a distance away from the crowd, so they'd be out of the way of danger. A cloaked figure walked onto the castle's main balcony. A musty voice followed.

"Citizens of the kingdom," he said, "as you are aware, we have taken over your land. Many of you must be curious as to who we are, and what we want. Well, I will leave you an explanation. We are known as Scorpions, and if you defy us, we will not hesitate to kill you."

A murmur of fear went through the crowd.

"However, we will leave you unharmed, on one condition. Hand over the princess, and none shall be harmed. Do we have an agreement? Decide now!"

Some agreed to this heinous idea, while most were in protest, shouting and booing to show their objection.

"I see..." said the figure, "well, this is the way it must be, I suppose. All who dare oppose me gather at the east of the castle. Everyone else, stay where you are."  
A large portion of the crowd broke off and gathered at the eastern wall.

"As I said before," the figure went on, "all who oppose me shall be put to death! As an example, I shall start with this young man! Bring him out, Scorpions!"

Two Scorpions came onto the balcony holding a hedgehog by the arms. His hands were tied behind his back. His eyes were blindfolded, so nobody could tell who it was

"Take off his blind!" said the figure, "I want to talk to him _face__**.**__ To. __**Face.**__"_

A Scorpion took of the blind, and Amelia gasped.

"That's Silver!" she cried.

The two Scorpions turned Silver to face the Scorpion that had spoken. Silver glared at him with defiance.

"Who are you?" said Silver, "What gives you the right to do this to our beloved kingdom?"

"Ha, rights?" the figure laughed, "To what does one have a right? As for my name, you can call me Night, leader of the Scorpions. You think you're so clever? Tried to outsmart us. Now, look at yourself! Defiance gets you nowhere! I'll give you one more chance, though. Join us, and I shall let you live. Well, what do you say?"

Silver spat in Night's face, "I'll join you when hell freezes over. Amelia forever!"

Amelia's supporters echoed Silver, "Amelia forever!" The sight warmed Amelia's heart.

"Hmph," said Night, "I gave you your chance." he whipped out a rapier and used it to slit Silver's throat. Blood gushed forth from the wound, and Silver's mouth gaped open in a desperate attempt to breathe, but to no avail; he fell limp, lifeless. A wave of shock went through the crowd. Cream was crying, Tails let out a small yelp, and Amelia was in disbelief. They had just seen night kill Silver, without even a touch of emotion. The same emotionless murder that Sonic, Fletcher, and Florina had been killed by. That was how Amelia knew. This is who these people were. Emotionless, cold-hearted people, who would kill anyone and anything in the way of what they wanted. They would even kill off the entire kingdom if they had to.

Amelia couldn't stand to see the rest of this.

"We need to leave, now," she said.

"I agree," said Shadow.

"Wait! What about my mother?" said Cream.

"We can't, Cream," said Miles, putting his hand upon her shoulder, "it's too late. Come on, let's go."

Cream began to cry, "Where will we go?"

"Wherever we end up, I guess," said Shadow, "let's go."

And so they all left the kingdom, leaving behind their home, their memories, and all that was familiar to them, as they travelled into the unknown.


	2. The dream

That night, the four of them travelled back to the waterfall to rest.

"So this is the place you were telling me about, Cream," said Miles, "peaceful."

"Definitely," said Cream.

"Chao!" Charles agreed.

"It is certainly peaceful," said Shadow, "but we must get some rest. The Scorpions will surely come looking for us in the morning."

"Shadow's right," said Amelia, "we should get to sleep."

The others nodded in agreement before laying their heads the earth and closing their eyes, allowing sleep to overcome them. Only Shadow and Amelia lay awake in the moonlight.

"So how are you taking this?" Shadow asked, turning to Amelia.

"To be honest, it's extremely overwhelming," said Amelia, "I'm not quite sure I can take much more. Sonic, the king and queen, Silver, and so many other innocent lives taken. It's not fair! They never deserved any of that! What did we do to deserve this?"

Shadow let out a sigh, "I don't know, Amelia. All I know is that they've started a war, and we've been caught in the middle of it."

"Shadow, I'm so scared. What do they want with me? I, I don't..." Amelia began to cry.

"Hey, hey look at me," said Shadow, "look at me, Amelia."

Amelia turned her head, looking him in the eyes.

"I don't know what they want with you," he continued, "but this world will go to hell before I let them lay a hand on you, and I will do everything I can to protect you."

With that, he leaned forward and kissed her, Amelia smiled and returned it. Then she wrapped him into a warm hug.

"Thank you, Shadow," she said, "for understanding. I love you. I shall cherish this moment, always."

Shadow and Amelia stayed together, enjoying each other's company, falling asleep in each other's arms.

As Amelia's eyes closed, for a few moments, all that surrounded her was darkness. Then a scene began to form. She was in the castle's throne room, sitting on her throne. She tried to get up and move, but found she could not. She looked down and saw her wrists tied to the chair arms, and her ankles tied together. She was barefoot, and her clothing was worn and shabby. Amelia suddenly felt too frozen with fear to speak. She saw a purple chameleon walk into the room. He motioned for someone to follow him. Amelia bristled with anger when she saw who it was: A Scorpion. The chameleon was one of them.

"Well, princess," said the chameleon, "let's see how you like it when someone _you_ love is killed before your very eyes!"

"What?" said Amelia, confused.

"Don't play stupid! But on second thought, you must be delirious. Perhaps _this _will jog your memories! Bring him in, Scorpion!"

"Right away, Espio!" said the Scorpion, leaving. There was something familiar about the other Scorpion's voice, Amelia just couldn't put her finger on it. Then the Scorpion came back, holding Shadow, whose hands were tied behind his back. Amelia's eyes widened with shock and despair.

"NO!" Amelia screamed.

"Yes!" said Espio, laughing maniacally, "I lost my family thanks to yours. I lost everything I cared for and loved. Now you will know how that feels! Scorpion, kill him!"

"No, Shadow!" Amelia cried out desperately.

"Amelia!" Shadow replied mournfully.

"Goodbye." said the Scorpion, as he took out a dagger.

"I love you, Amelia!" Shadow shouted.

"I love you too, Shadow!"

The Scorpion used the dagger to stab Shadow skillfully in the lungs 16 times, carefully avoiding the ribs. Blood pored out of the holes, as Shadow gasped for air. Shadow fell first to his knees, then forward onto his face. All the color was leaving his body fast. Within seconds, his fur turned a sickly grey color, his stripes a fleshy pink.

"Shadow!" Amelia cried, tears rolling down her face.

"Untie her," Espio ordered.

The Scorpion came and undid her ropes. She pushed past him and ran to Shadow.

"Shadow, Shadow! Please come back!" she pleaded, **"PLEASE!"**

"Stupid girl," said Espio, "he's gone! Now tell me how it feels to lose everything you loved."

And he left her, crying over Shadow's lifeless body. The last thing she saw before tears blurred her vision was the gleam of the murder blade, laid beside him.

Then she heard someone calling her.

'_Amelia, Amelia!'_

"No!" Amelia protested, "I don't want to leave!"

"_Amelia, wake up!"_

Amelia woke up to find herself on the cool earth, the calming sound of a nearby waterfall. Amelia sat bolt upright, gasping for breath. Her head was pounding, and her heart was beating a mile a minute.

"Amelia?"

Amelia jerked her head to the side to see Shadow watching her with concern. The others were still fast asleep. Amelia sighed with relief. _'Just a dream...' _she thought.

"Are you alright?" Shadow asked, "Bad dream?"

"Yes," said Amelia, "but I'm alright, now that you're here."

"I never left."

"I know," Amelia smiled softly.

"I don't suppose you'd be able to sleep again tonight?" asked Shadow.

"N-no," Amelia shuddered, "I don't think so."

"I'll keep you company, then."

Amelia smiled, feeling greatly comforted. "Yes, that sounds wonderful. Thank you, Shadow."

"Anytime."

As the two of them waited the night through, Amelia asked herself the same thing over and over:

_Why did Shadow die? And what was this Espio talking about?_

Amelia turned her head to look at Shadow. He looked majestic, glowing in the moonlight. At that moment, Amelia promised herself she would do whatever it took to protect him. She swore she would never let Shadow die. Never.


End file.
